Friday, October 14, 2011

The Most Interesting Thing: How I Got Out of a Rut

"The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions."--Ellen Glasgow

The Rut
Six months of drafting
Six days a week
Drove me
Into my writing grave 

My joy
My creativity
My love of story
Dead

Then along came a challenge
Could I revise a novel 
In three weeks? 
Mais oui! 

Change is good 
Popped me 
Straight out of
The Rut

Has your writing routine ever buried you in a deep writing rut? If so, what helped you get out? 

14 comments:

  1. It's usually me that buries me in the rut, and I just blame it on the 'stupid story' not working.

    Though once, it really was. What got me out of it (and to finish the draft) was to change tense. 2/3 of the book is in past, 1/3 is in present. Once I changed the tense, everything else seemed to fall into place.

    That was a long time ago though, and now I have the problem of difficulty to NOT write present tense. Past and I no longer get on *headdesk*

    I'm glad you popped yourself out of the rut. Thank you for sharing.

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  2. Oh, I so get this. I can't wait to start editing the rubbish that my 'rut' made me write in the middle of this wip :-)

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  3. Admission is the first step to recovery! I allow myself time NOT to write if I'm stuck. There's something about consciously staying away from the computer that kick starts the idea flow again. When that happens, I DO NOT go to the computer. I write them down by hand in my notebook. When the pages start filling up with random ideas (dialogue, scenes, character descriptions, etc.), then I know I'm on my way out of the rut.

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  4. K.T.--I totally hear you on the tense change. Sometimes I also change from third to first person.

    Sarah-Something to look forward to ^_^

    Dawn--Interesting that the computer itself can contribute to the problem.

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  5. I can too easily fall into the rut of "because I'm not published and don't have an agent yet, I don't have a deadline and can take as long as I damn well please". It can be disheartening, and frustration and self-doubt sets in, but that's what happens.

    Realizing that it's probably mostly my fault (I haven't been submitting anything), and setting myself some deadlines (such as, I will finish the rewrites of my WIP this weekend) has really helped. Connecting with community, both in-person and online, is vital to jump-start my creative juices.

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  6. You have seriously got a way with these little poems.

    Er. Yeah, challenges help me... as you know :) I can't say no to them since I'm way too competitive for my own good ;)

    Glad you're out of your rut!

    --Lora

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  7. Totally agree with Dawn. When the rut is deep, I gotta walk away from all writing, not just another form of it. But congrats on the Revision Request. That's super fabulous! Keep us in the loop, please.

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  8. LOL. Your opening quote up there? Yes, I'm still chuckling.

    I've been in several ruts--broken by a week off and sunshine, playing with kids rather than stressing, reading my brain away, and staring into oblivion for extended periods. Oh--and cheese. Definitely eating cheese.

    Change is good. It's the spice of life! Maybe I should try trading out muenster for feta this week...

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  9. Yes, it has. It did that for me back in August, but I think I'm climbing out of it now--NaNoWriMo is energizing me. :)

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  10. Thanks, everyone. Sad to know I'm not alone in my rut problems, but misery does love company, eh?

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  11. I LOVE this quote. And your poem is pretty great, too!

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  12. Truth, Angelina? For me, my last rut, was you. :))) Your cyber rope was thrown out just in the nick of time. I was truly cratering that lonely Friday evening. Thanks, friend!

    No, darlin' you're not alone, nowhere near being alone. Ever need it, 281-450-6860, plug it into your phone. I'm a few buttons away!

    btw, I've had to sign up to follow your blog 3 times now. Have a clue why? I don't. I just signed up again. Oh well, I'll just check it each time I pop around. And, I love your rut poem. Great!

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  13. What I wrote reads funny. I meant for me, how I got out of my last rut, was because you. :))

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  14. That's such a cool poem! When I'm in a rut, I take a break and work on another creative project, like altered art scrapbooking, something like that. I'm glad you got out of that rut. Ruts suck!

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